Title

Authors

Date of this Version

5-15-2007

Document Type

Article

Citation

INTSORMIL Report No. 15, May 15, 2007

Abstract

President of the Republic of El Salvador, Don Elias Antonio Saca, on May 17, 2006 officially gave the green light to the opening of the agricultural year 2006-2007. Speaking in the city of Turin in the western department of Ahuachapán, El Salvador, he informed the nation’s thousands of farmers that the opportune moment to begin planting had again arrived. The Chief of State let it be known that this celebration in Turin was a clear signal to the nation’s farmers that the Government of El Salvador pledges its support to assist the farming community in producing the necessary food for domestic consumption and to support the farmers in taking advantage of export markets for their commodities.

The festive event, attended by about two thousand farmers, was virtually an “agricultural fair” with government and private research agencies demonstrating their latest research and agricultural industry representatives presenting their services. During the event President Saca officially released a new forage sorghum hybrid CENTA SS- 44, that, ”because of its excellent characteristics, will significantly benefit El Salvadoran dairy farmers.” The Minister of Agriculture and Livestock, Lic. Mario Ernesto Salaverría, speaking at the event, stated that “we want to give a big boost to the cattle and dairy sector with the release of this new multicut forage sorghum hybrid. We are excited about the potential impact of this new hybrid on the dairy industry because of it’s outstanding feeding qualities which will result in a 25 to 30 percent increase in milk production,” Truly, CENTA SS-44 is a much better forage sorghum than any other variety available in El Salvador. It is currently being evaluated in other Central American countries and results so far are very promising.